It's spelled a little differently
by mixthealphabet
Summary: They are back from the magic games. / "We're not really Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming. Our fairytale is spelled differently." – My fill for Day 2 of Nalu Week: Fairytale


**It's spelled a little differently**

_We stole our new lives through blood and pain in defense of our dreams, in defense of our dreams. We were the Kings and Queens of promise._

"I still can't believe you took that crown, Natsu."

The blonde mage was lying on her bed, eyes focused on Natsu Dragneel, who continued to run around her apartment, playing with his new souvenir.

The boy looked happier than he'd been for the last few weeks, grinning and laughing as if everything they'd gone through in the Magic Games was already a far off memory, just another victory to add to his pile of times-we-saved-the-world. His behavior calmed her, in a way, but it bothered her in many others.

"Oh, c'mon! The old man gladly gave it to me!"

Lucy Heartfilia faltered at this, her forehead wrinkling as she turned to give the boy her entire attention.

"The king _gave_ you his crown?" She asked, flabbergasted by the absurdity of the thought.

Her partner didn't seem to agree.

"Of course!" He replied, all amused eyes and showing teeth. "What? Did you think I had stolen it?" Natsu laughed.

That had been exactly what Lucy had been thinking. Despite his uncanny _goodness_, the dragon slayer possessed very strange notions of right and wrong. He didn't understand some aspects of human interaction (like the fact that a guy shouldn't touch a girl's breasts so casually!), nor the reason why some metals were considered more precious than others. For him, the crown wasn't gold and rubies and other expensive materials, but simply a reminder of the things they had lost and the things they had surpassed to be home once again.

Maybe the king had seen it, as well, the innocence that Natsu carried within him, despite all the evil he had seen and fought against.

"Well, yes." Lucy chuckled with him, resting her head back against the pillow. "I can never count on you to be predictable."

In the light of the afternoon, their eyes met, full of exhaustion and mirth. Their minds shifted between the alertness that came with their joy and the sleepiness caused by the non-stop stress the games had put them through. There was also grief, the feeling of failure for what they'd seen happen to future Lucy and Rogue, for the pains of the battle and the sacrifice that ended up saving them all.

Ultear.

Gray had told them about it as soon as they were back in the guild. He had seemed so angry and so sad, saying that the others needed to know what had been lost, that Ultear had to be recognized as the incredible mage she was.

Natsu hadn't taken it well.

He had been wearing her cloak, Lucy realized later, as a way to stop the bleeding from one of his most serious wounds. The boy had felt responsible for abandoning Merudy and her after they took care of him, but even he was able to understand that there was no way to predict what the woman would do in order to save them.

The guild agreed on one thing: They would live their lives to the maximum, to honor Ultear.

And so, the previous day had been spent in celebration, as they inaugurated their new guild. The alcohol had circulated quickly, being drained like water by the still quite hyper mages and the visitants that appeared every now and then to congratulate Fairy Tail for their success. In the frenzy, none of that had slept.

"You are tired, aren't you?" Natsu pointed out, approaching her bed and taking off the crown to put it in her head. "You look like that princess from the books Igneel used to make me read."

The comparison was strange, for it wasn't often that the dragon slayer brought up memories from before his time with the guild. This one, especially, Lucy was sure he'd never mentioned before.

"Books?" She drawled out, feeling the haziness of her fatigue start to take over. "What were they like?"

The celestial mage couldn't be sure, for the sun was setting and her room was already bathed in an orange-pinkish hue, but it almost looked like the boy blushed at her inquire.

"Bedtime stories, I guess." He confessed in a tone so soft it could be considered a whisper. "The princess sleeps because of a curse and the prince has to kiss her in order to wake her up."

He was sitting in her bed now, leaning down a bit and playing with the tip of her blonde hair.

For a moment, Lucy wondered if he was thinking about her future self, about how she'd died in front of them.

Even though the woman had done it to save her past, it still felt like a bucket of cold water had been tipped over her head. She had never felt so… mortal. Death could be just around the corner, the girl had always known that, even before joining the guild, but it certainly had never struck her as such a tangible threat than after that occurrence.

Suddenly, life felt too short.

"Ah, a fairytale." She mumbled, throwing a tender smile in his direction. "If I'm Sleeping Beauty, what does that make you?"

The pink haired boy grinned at her, lowering himself to touch her forehead with his, like he'd done with her other self, some days previously.

"I don't like the dragon in that story."

She laughed at the sulky tone he'd adopted.

"There's always the prince." Lucy responded, without really thinking about what she was saying. "You are always saving me, after all."

With her mind already drifting to sleep, she didn't quite grasp the possible meanings behind her words. Not even when she felt Natsu tense above her, his hand descending from her hair to her shoulder.

"I'm not the prince type, though." His voice sounded much graver than she was accustomed to, troubled, but Lucy paid no mind to it.

Under his awkward hug, the celestial mage giggled, shifting to pull him closer and make Natsu lay down with her.

"It's okay." She sighed. "We're not really Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming. Our fairytale is spelled differently."

Muttering this, Lucy felt herself being consumed by sleep.

Natsu, however, continued to stare at her.

She was beautiful, with her golden hair and the crown. He really had meant it when he compared her to that princess. Though he had never liked that story all that much, it had somehow stuck to his memory.

The boy hadn't really understood what were her intentions with that last statement. When falling asleep, Lucy got even weirder than she usually was.

But she was right about one thing. He was no Prince Charming.

So, instead of waking her up, Natsu grinned to himself and bent down to press a good night kiss to her lips.

* * *

Hey! I'm really late for this, but I had a busy week. Not that the weekend will be much better, but I'm inspired for some reason. Let's see where this takes me.

My fill for Day 2 of Nalu Week: Fairy Tale.

The song is Kings and Queens, by 30 Seconds to Mars.


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